Sessions to be replaced by a Fox News commentator who once described in detail how he would kill the Mueller investigation… I think this probably qualifies as a constitutional crisis, right?

Back in July of 2017, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said there’d be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Well, today, Donald Trump not only fired Sessions, but announced that the Attorney General would be temporarily replaced by Matthew Whitaker, a former Fox News contributor who had been serving as Sessions’ Chief of Staff. As for why Trump selected Whitaker, who has previously been referred to by the New York Times as the West Wing’s “eyes and ears” inside the Justice Department, one would assume it has something to do with the fact that he’s been openly hostile toward the Mueller investigation.

Whitaker not only penned an op-ed for CNN titled, “Mueller’s investigation of Trump is going too far,” but he said the following during a subsequent interview on the cable news network. “I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced,” he said, “and (the incoming) Attorney General doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigations grinds to almost a halt.” And he’s also gone on the record stating that, by crossing Trump’s “red line,” and looking into the finances of the President and his family members, Mueller has raised “serious concerns that the special counsel’s investigation was a mere witch hunt.”

So, now, this Trump loyalist, who once referred to Mueller’s investigators as a “lynch mob,” will be overseeing the Mueller investigation as acting Attorney General of the United States…. As you’re recall, Sessions wasn’t directly overseeing the investigation, as he’d recused himself from anything Russia-related when it became known that he’d lied about meetings that he’d taken with Russian officials while serving on Trump’s campaign team, but Whitaker, as he’s not recused himself, can claim ownership of the investigation, taking oversight responsibilities away from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

[above: This image comes from a post I wrote last July, after the bipartisan Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, only to have Mitch McConnell keep in from being voted on by the full Senate. Read the post, if you get a chance, and share it. It’s important stuff.]

As for why Trump made the move to fire Sessions now, and thereby attempt to end the Mueller investigation, one can only assume that it has to do with the results of yesterday’s midterm election, and the prospect of a Democratic majority being seated in the House on January 3rd. Donald Trump knows that, unless he does something over the next two months, he’s finally going to be held accountable for his numerous crimes. [Trump had wanted to be rid of Sessions since he recused himself from the Russia probe. We know, from reports, that Trump said that Sessions didn’t do enough to “protect him” and “safeguard” him, apparently not understanding that it’s the Attorney General’s job, not to look out for the President, but to ensure that our laws are upheld.]

And, I should add, this wasn’t all that Trump did today. This morning, before once again declaring the press “the enemy of the people,” he began making threats against those Democrats who would be using their newly found subpoena power to investigate him. And Mitch McConnell began warning his colleagues in Congress against what he called “presidential harassment,” apparently forgetting that Congress has a constitutional role to provide presidential oversight.

I have to say that, right now, I’m pretty damned concerned, as it certainly appears as though our President is ratcheting up his obstruction of justice game in hopes of avoiding any legal consequences for his actions. All is not lost, though… at least not yet. Here are three things to consider.

…All that said, Mueller was surely expecting just such an eventuality. And the fact that they got Roger Stone attorney Tyler Nixon to testify Friday suggests they were prepping for it, getting the last bit of evidence against Stone in place.

The only question is whether they got the grand jury to approve whatever indictments they were working on. I’d be surprised if Mueller didn’t (unless Rod Rosenstein prevented him from doing so).

If that’s the case, then Whitaker is not going to help Trump get out of his legal troubles. That’s because Chief Judge Beryl Howell, not Whitaker, will make the decision about unsealing anything sealed in this grand jury investigation.

So if Mueller prepared for this very predictable eventuality, then Trump may have just fired a key player in his racist agenda for naught…

But, with all of that having been said, we shouldn’t count on anything good coming of this. And we can’t afford to just sit back and hope for the best. I know it’s a long shot, especially now that the Republicans have even more of a stranglehold over the Senate, but we need to try to force Mitch McConnell to bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote. It’s hard to say what would happen if he did, and whether or not Republicans would vote to protect the investigation, but we should at least try to bring it to a vote, if for no other reason that to see where our elected officials stand when it comes to protecting the rule of law.

One last thing… Is anyone else wondering why Donald Trump and the Republicans are no longer talking about the deadly army of invaders heading toward our southern border? I hate to say it, but it’s almost as if the whole thing was just political theater. Who would have thought?

I want to thank Jeff Sessions for his service to our country as Attorney General. Under Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, it is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds to its conclusion unimpeded.

I agree, the Constitutional crisis has arrived. MoveOn is calling protests around the country, tonight (Thursday, 11/8), 5 pm. About 900 “No One is Above the Law” marches or gatherings listed on the website. The Ann Arbor event is at the Federal Building at Liberty St. and Fifth at 5 pm. I don’t see a location listed for Ypsi right now.

What if the Acting Attorney General refuses to offer Congress assurances on the record and under oath about maintaining the integrity of the Special Counsel investigation? Two GOP Senators (five in the new Congress) could refuse to vote to confirm Trump judges, among other steps.

I took an oath to protect against these kinds of abuses regardless of whether a conviction has been handed down or not. That’s how this shit works, particularly in a case where the constitutional criminal has hijacked the DOJ. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and flagrant abusers cannot be tolerated.

Every Veteran and civil servant who ever took this oath better get ready to step up to preserve the Constitution regardless of political ideology. And don’t give me some “what about Obummer” bs, this is uncharted levels of abuse.

How much do you want to bet those are all jokes, M? We know for a fact there is no obstruction of justice in the Comey firing. How could asking Sessions to leave be obstruction? Tax fraud and emoluments: let’s see. Pretty sure it’s your people who are going down on things like that and worse.

He attacks the Fake News Media, those people in media who lie. He said when they lie, which they do a lot they are the enemy of the people. That is true and I can’t see any way it could violate the Constitution. You know what the phrase grasping at straws comes from right?

Are you going to ask that poor old lady to keep rockin’ till she drops? She was so slow to answer on the recent interview she had it was sad to see. No doubt she would have retired for Hillary and that was the plan: she would hold out until Hillary won. Now you need her to stay on until her 90’s to try to stop our President from appointing a third Justice.

Based on evidence, yeah. He is correct. Veselnitskaya is connected to Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson. You are the one who should be worried about that. It’s funny to see you people trotting out all your greatest hits but you still don’t know they were all misses.

There was a lot of smoke coming from Dem/fake media about Russian collusion but there is no fire. That ought to be obvious by now. The real fire is under the ass of corrupt officials and I think it is starting to get hot. Panic time

When the Senate convenes next week, @ChrisCoons and I will ask for unanimous consent to bring S.2644, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, to a vote on the Senate floor. After the firing of The AG, it is more important than ever to protect the Special Counsel.

It was not widely known among senior White House staff that Matt Whitaker had commented repeatedly on the special counsel’s investigation in interviews and on TV, even though that’s what drew President Trump to him in the first place.

When I mention you, Frosted Flakes, it is usually to get you to comment. I’m nostalgic for the days when a few people made some sense on this blog. I’m trying to make Mark’s blog great again. But, I really know it was never that great.

[…] but one suspects he’s being fed information from the Department of Justice through men like Matthew Whitaker. At any rate, it’s interesting to see how Flynn is being treated in comparison to Cohen, who […]